First Love
by stage crew
Summary: Another one in my teenage!AU series. Arthur and Eames spend some time with Eames' family. A/E slash, and this is quite some fluff.


"Oi!"

Eames drew back from Arthur, blushing. "What do you want, Chris?"

His younger brother lifted his chin challengingly, refusing to be intimidated. "Dinner is ready, if you two can stop sucking each other's tongues long enough to eat." He scampered off, swinging the door shut behind him.

Arthur raised his eyebrows as Eames lowered himself so that they were chest to chest again. "Aren't you hungry?"

Eames smirked, and Arthur laughed, correcting himself. "Don't you want to eat some dinner?"

Eames ignored the question, leaning down to gently kiss Arthur's lips. Arthur allowed it for a moment before jumping back slightly when someone pounded a palm against the door.

"Boys! Food or someone gets the talk! And I'll be _giving_ it this time."

Eames and Arthur both grinned, finally pulling apart. Eames rolled onto the floor landing on his hands and knees and gracefully accepted Arthur's hand up. Eames placed a quick kiss on Arthur's lips, before saying, "Come then. As fun as it was to give my father the talk, I doubt I would find it nearly as enjoyable to be on the receiving end."

Eames led the way out of his room, shivering pleasantly as Arthur traced fingers up and down his spine. The kitchen was loud, with Eames' two older brothers arguing with each other about- something, and Chris seemed to be testing the limits of the volume knob on the radio. Arthur dodged something that came flying towards him, blinking in surprise. Eames' dad exploded into laughter, collecting a rag to clean up the half-cooked pancake. "Sorry! I was trying to flip it in the air, and-"

"-he was actually aiming for you, brother, Arthur's pretty face just got in the way," Jimmy, the oldest, interrupted.

Johnny was talking almost before Jimmy was done. "C'mon Jimmy, when are you going to come out? You and Eames and Arthur could swoon over celebrity heart-throbs together."

Chris laughed and Eames' dad broke in with, "Those two are too busy swooning over each other. Now sit down, we have a few undestroyed pancakes and damn it, we're going to eat them."

His sons and Arthur snickered, obediently taking seats around the kitchen table. The peace lasted all of four seconds, before Chris took a leap of faith. "Mind if I grab a beer?"

The uproar was loud and instantaneous. Jimmy and Johnny, who were virtually the same person at times despite the two-year age difference, immediately launched into the good old 'when I was your age...' speech, finishing each other's sentences.

Eames jumped up, saying, "I'll grab one for everyone, shall I?"

Eames' dad and Arthur both had their jaws dropped, slightly overwhelmed by the sudden noise. They exchanged a look, and then Arthur, ever the gentleman, loudly asked, "Do you guys happen to have any maple syrup?"

The brothers all stared at Arthur, who blushed slightly but held his ground. And then the tone was back to normal and Chris had tossed Arthur a plastic bottle.

After dinner, They stayed sitting around the kitchen table, rehashing years-old arguments and telling well-known jokes, until Jimmy stood up regretfully, indicating that him and Johnny should head back to the loft they shared. Johnny threw a friendly arm around Arthur while him and Johnny glared at Eames and told him, in many more words, to take good care of his boyfriend.

Eames and Arthur, after relocating to the sitting room, spent another hour talking and joking around before Arthur noticed the time. "Eames, I need to leave soon," he said quietly.

Eames frowned, but kissed him instead of begging him to stay a little longer. "Let me walk you home?"

"Of course." Arthur smiled.

"Alright, grab your trainers and I'll find my jacket."

"You left it on your bed," Arthur called to him, socked feet sliding slightly on the wooden floor of the hallway.

Eames reappeared right after Arthur had finished lacing up his shoes, calling out to his father, "Dad!"

The response from upstairs echoed through the hallway. "Are you walking Arthur home? Be back in twenty or I'm filing a missing persons!"

Arthur grinned, but Eames only rolled his eyes. "I'll be back!"

Arthur laced their fingers together as they made their way down the street. "You have a great family."

Eames' head turned to face Arthur, the corners of his mouth quirking up. "They're very fond of you, you know." When Arthur didn't answer, Eames continued. "I'm very fond of you."

Arthur squeezed Eames' hand. "I'm very fond of you as well."

There was a pause, and Eames made a sound like he was going to say something. Arthur twisted his neck to raise an eyebrow at Eames, who was looking inexplicably nervous.

"One could almost say that, er," he hesitated, "I love you."

Eames couldn't quite make out Artur's face in the dark, and he couldn't remember feeling this tense his entire life.

"Almost?" Arthur questioned after a moment.

"Sorry?"

"One could 'almost', so not quite?"

Suddenly, Eames could catch the emotion there, felt it run over him like a warm tide through his chest. "Well, perhaps I didn't phrase it quite right," he started, but Arthur spoke before he could completely finish the thought.

"I love you too."

They stopped walking, and Eames turned to face Arthur, who was looking extremely desperate. Eames didn't hesitate before pulling Arthur into a bone-crushing hug, and Arthur didn't hesitate when he nuzzled Eames' cheek until the other boy lifted his jaw just enough for them to kiss.

The moment felt perfect, kissing his love with nothing but the dark surrounding them until it felt like nothing else existed, if only for a second. And then Eames had his hand wrapped around Arthur's waist, and Arthur slid his hand across Eames' shoulders because even though it was hard to keep right in step they were closer together.

When they made it to Arthur's door, he couldn't help but pull Eames into one last kiss even though his parents might see. "I love you," he whispered, feeling like his chest was too tight and that maybe he would suffocate and they would find him here still wrapped around Eames, his friend, his love.

Eames slid muscular arms around Arthur's middle and whispered, slowly, carefully, with his lips brushing the shell of Arthur's ear, "Darling, I love you."

And Arthur leaned down to kiss him one more time, because his knees were feeling a little weak anyway, so what?

He stayed on the porch and watched Eames walk until he was out of sight in the dark.


End file.
